A senior NATO official has warned that there is a “real risk” that the UK could be at war with Russia.
NATO’s deputy assistance secretary general for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, James Appathurai warned that the UK is not spending enough on defence and the government is putting Britain at risk.
He warned, “There is a real risk of war. We have heard that from our intelligence chiefs, from our political leaders across Europe. And we need to be strong so that there isn’t war.
“The best deterrent will be that we are capable.”
Appathurai told Times Radio, “The UK gets it from a government point of view. The policies are changing.
“The money’s being put there. But […] the money is not yet flowing fast enough to the defence industry. I just got off a discussion an hour ago, which really confirmed that.
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“This is a moment of real risk, and it will be a discussion encouraged by the Russians behind the scenes. We need to keep our foot on the gas. We do not have the capabilities we need.”
This week Russia issued a direct threat to British and French soldiers that if they are deployed to Ukraine they will be “legitimate combat targets.”
The Russia Foreign Ministry criticised the Coalition of the Willing which is led by London and Paris and hit out their “militaristic declarations.”
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron has said there will be “military hubs” set in Ukraine should there a ceasefire.
The former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Stirrup warned that sending British troops to Ukraine could drag the UK into war with Russia.
Lord Stirrup warned that Britain must prepare for the “worst possible outcome” should British troops be sent to Ukraine.
However, Sir Ben Wallace, who served as Conservative defence secretary for four years has warned that the British Army is not strong enough to serve on operations to defend Ukraine.
Sir Ben warned that the army “would be very stretched” in operating in Ukraine and said that Vladimir Putin will not be “fooled” by Sir Keir Starmer saying the British Army can offer assurances on the ground.
The former defence secretary said the UK could only “sustain” troops on the ground for a short period of time, should there be a ceasefire.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Sir Ben, said, “It’s possible for a very short period of time. The reality is the three powers that were at that meeting; Germany, France and Britain; the only power actually spending money on defence increases is Germany.
“Germany has twice now significantly raised its defence budget. The only powers in Europe increasing defence budget properly rather than press releases and folding in other people’s budgets and pretending its defence are Germany, Poland and the Nordic states.”
He warned, “The current Government is about to take a billion pounds out of the Army this year, so I don’t think we can sustain it and actually no one is fooled by it.
“We would be very stretched.
“We have a deployment in Estonia. We need to spend real money now, not in 2029, not in 2030, 2040.
“The OBR itself said that the British Government had not set out a path to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.”